Replaced the clutch and slave cylinder about two weeks ago. 2005 3.0, a week later it gets hard to shift and into gear. Crawl under the truck and crack the bleeder screw with the clutch pedal down you can hear the compressed air being released. It only takes one crack open of the bleeder and tighten it back and clutch it back to normal. A week later have to bleed it again. After I bleed it the clutch feels amazing and shifts smooth and the clutch releases way at the top of the pedal travel but after a week it starts engaging lower and lower until it gets more difficult to shift.


Somehow air is getting into the slave cylinder but not sure how. I used all oem parts from the Ford dealer including the slave cylinder. Something tells me the slave cylinder is junk or maybe the quick connect to the slave is slowly leaking air ?

 

There's air in the system, and ALOT of it. Once you get air in the system, it's VERY hard to get out, and impossible to get out inside the truck. You're gonna have to pull the master cylinder and clutch line assembly out of the truck and hang it up in a way where the reservoir is at the top, and the clutch pedal rod is pointing down. The video at the end of this post does a pretty good job of explaining what you need to do, with exception to two things. Gravity bleeding is only good for brand new clutch parts and even then, it really only works on the pre-bled assemblies. The amount of travel he states is acceptable, is NOT acceptable. There was still air in his system, but he for some reason chose to mislead us. Another option you might have is a vacuum bleeder, but I'm not familiar with that method so I can't speak to it.

Anyways, you're gonna have to sit there and bleed the system until no more air bubbles come out. If you leave ANY air bubbles in the system, they will break apart, they will grow larger, and they will multiply, which is probably why your clutch pedal gets worse after a week or so. Once you've smacked every single corner of the master cylinder, every corner of the line, and even the rubber hose to the reservoir, and you don't see any more bubbles coming up no matter what you do, you're good to go. Re-install the assembly into the truck, and then get underneath and bleed the slave cylinder.

The only thing you need to do when bleeding the slave cylinder is to have somebody push down on the pedal, and hold. While they're holding, crack the bleeder. Once the fluid stops shooting out, close the bleeder, tell them to release the pedal, and then repeat that procedure a few times. Watch the level in the clutch reservoir, as cracking the bleeder 3 or 4 times in succession will empty the reservoir and you'll start sucking in air again. I usually check the reservoir after two or three cracks.

Hopefully that helps you, and if for some reason you still have air coming into the system, there's only a few places for it to come in. The slave cylinder seal (behind the throwout bearing), the seals at the fittings on the slave cylinder (the break bleeder tube and the clutch line female end), the clutch line itself has O-rings on either end, or the seal at the top of the master cylinder where the clutch pedal rod enters. Those are the primary places where air may be getting in. Generally, if you can see fluid coming out, air is coming in. If you're not able to see any fluid coming out, either the master cylinder (or maybe the slave) is leaking internally and not able to maintain pressure for long, or you're still dealing with a ton of air bubbles. I would think that if the master cylinder was unable to maintain pressure, it would be an all the time thing, and not after a week or so.

 

I’ve seen that video and thought since the air is only ending up in the slave then my master should be bled. I’m gonna give this a shot today and re bleed my slave and see if that fixed it thank you for The reply

 

Mark the reservoir level after you are done
With air bladder/dam removed(black rubber cup thing)
It pulls out, if you have been adding fluid inside this cup then that is the problem, and common mistake

Pic of cap and "cup" here: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...rPATL._AC_.jpg

Then check level after a few days or when clutch feels different again
If its lower you DO have a leak somewhere and it's leaking fluid but also allowing air to be sucked in

If its not an obvious leak then add some UV Dye to reservoir and bleed system again, to get dye into system
Then start to check it weekly for signs of the dye with UV light
If dye shows up at bell housing then new Slave is leaking

 

There are no leaks visible

i went to take out the master and bench bleed but I don’t want to break the notorious retaining clip that holds the master push rod to the pedal

considering replacing the whole master assembly because this is my daily and need it to be reliable

Ron I havnt had to add fluid just by the way it stays full i know what cup you’re talking about and I always take it out when adding fluid or checking the level

 

Take the bleeder valve out all the way, fluid will slowly gravity bleed out so have a pan down under it
Have a look at the end of the valve where it seats inside the slave, make sure there are no burrs or any abnormalities

Its much easier to move air than brake fluid
So when you let up on the clutch pedal if the bleeder seal isn't tight it WILL suck in a bit of air

 

You can get a new pushrod clip at Oreilly's in the "HELP" section. I'm not sure about the other Auto Parts stores, but they may have it too.

 

RonD, I pulled the bleeder screw out all the way when I went to bleed the clutch today and it seemed to be a good taper and smooth with no abnormalities. I also pulled the rubber plug on the tranny to look inside and there was this white liquid that seemed to have dried that was splattered on the boot of the slave? Seemed very odd and wanted to see everyones opinion on that. It definitely was not like that when I installed it. I can take a picture next time I am down there if I did not describe it very well. The boot does seem to be dry like it is not leaking break fluid. I was also playing with the hydraulic line in case I did not seat it all the way and it seemed to click every time I pressed it and seated back in. This problem was not present before I did the clutch job so I am thinking it has to be the slave cylinder or the connection to the slave cylinder. I do know these slave cylinders are not the best design but could I have really gotten a faulty one? only other thing I can think of is the quick disconnect not making a perfect seal to where it lets a bit of air in but no fluid out since I did not replace the master assembly. If I still cannot find the problem I think I will try adding dye to the system

 

pulled the quick disconnect today and it was clean as a whistle and the o-ring looked good. The problem has to be the slave since I didn't have this problem with the old slave cylinder and its the same master cylinder. I really don't want to pull the transmission again but everything points to the slave being the culprit. Thinking I might replace the master assembly as a hail marry before pulling the tranny replacing the slave, again, sigh

 

Just know you're not alone. I've been through probably 4 or 5 master and salve cylinders since 2014. They just don't last. I even bought "name brand" stuff, only to realize it was the same cheap parts store junk thrown into a "name brand" (LuK) box. I suggest buying a Ford version from Ebay. It might last a little bit longer than the parts store junk.

 

The entire clutch including the slave cylinder was replaced with ford OEM parts straight from the dealer. That is the most irritating part is its a brand new slave cylinder straight from the dealer

 

Looking back, you mentioned that in your initial posts and I forgot.

That REALLY blows. If you do remove it, I would love to see which manufacturer logo is stamped on it. FTE seems to be what most of the parts store versions have on them. AP seems to be what the Ford parts were stamped with.

 

Did you find any fix yet Bigdog? I've been dealing with clutch bleeding since I bought my truck less than 2 years ago. Your post seems to be where I'm at aswell with self diagnosing. I've been lurking this sub since then reading up on every article relating to bleeding the clutch. I used to have to perform the same bleed procedure shown in the perfection clutch bleeding video every 4 months but i got tired of it, changed the master, still had the same problems, i decided the slave was next. After slave was replaced it was good pressure for about a month and its back to barely shifting again. i bled it once since then and that worked for about 2 weeks (possible i didnt remove all the air). I dont think i got a faulty slave out the box and hearing you have the same problem makes me doubt that more. My next step is to inspect my lines, check for a bad seal or crack (maybe my quick disconnect). I'm never leaking fluid so it must be something sucking air in.

some articles seem to point out if it could be the pressure plate, possibly a "non self-adjusting" was installed instead of an oem self adjusting one. i dont know much about pressure plates though so im not sure. maybe it can help point you in the right direction and we can figure this out together.

 

Funny you make the post

I pulled my transmission again on march 20th to replace the slave again because before that I replaced the master assembly with no difference which is why I ended up replacing the slave. Just today almost a month later It is starting to get hard to shift again. At this point I am at a loss of words I do not know how I replace the entire hydraulic system and it is still leaking air. This has to be some sort of production error. I am going to post a picture of my pressure plate which has the springs on the outside like the self adjusting ones do but just to be sure ill post a picture of it. I made sure to keep the receipt for the slave that's on the truck right now because I am not letting ford rip me off again...

 

 

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I just replaced my clutch, and went ahead and replaced the res/master/slave with a kit from Perfection Clutch. I'm having the same issues with bleeding. I can gravity bleed and it's just steady bubbles, forever. I've already removed the master, res, and line and bench bled it per Perfection's instructions and got no air out of it. Put it back on, and bleed through slave -- non-stop bubbles again. So I'm suspecting the new slave is garbage. I even tried a few different thickness of o-ring on the quick connect. No luck.